Protecting Penn Data

You can find almost any type of personal data somewhere on campus. This is because at Penn, we work with personal data about students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, visitors, patrons, patients, research subjects and so many others to provide premier education, cutting edge research, service locally and globally and more. To serve our community and to serve Penn, it is critical that we properly use and protect that personal information.

Eliminating Unnecessary Data

Too often we read about data breaches that were avoidable because the data stolen was being kept by an institution unnecessarily. So, securely delete confidential information that is no longer needed for teaching, research, service, operations or any other Penn-related function.

Google Docs, Survey Monkey, Dropbox, Basecamp -- These and countless other hosted services empower individuals to get more done, faster. But, putting Penn data in the hands of a third party also creates risks of, for example, data loss, service outages, foreign government access, inadequate technical support, non-compliance.

There are many resources at Penn to help answer questions and concerns related to privacy. You may contact the Privacy Office at privacy@upenn.edu. You may also contact Penn’s Reporting and Help Line at 215-PComply (215-726-6759) or www.upenn.edu/215pcomply. Information security incidents should be reported to security@isc.upenn.edu.